CATOOSA, Okla. — A recent social media post from the Catoosa Police Department is gaining attention from Catoosa residents. Earlier this week, the Catoosa Police Chief posted to Facebook about clearing out the homeless camp in town. But following the post, some people were not happy.
Homelessness in Catoosa is not a huge issue but recently a homeless camp near the junior high and middle school has Catoosa residents up in arms about what should happen to the camp and the people in it.
The post by Catoosa Police Chief Ronnie Benight has some who call the city home upset. Earlier this week, chief Benight took to Facebook to acknowledge the concerns about a homeless camp that was being cleared out.
“It started out probably a year and a half ago. It was one individual to two individuals and then it has grown as some of the homeless shelters in Tulsa have gotten full. There’s no place to help, give them housing or anything like that. So more have migrated down here, it’s basically become its own community,” said CPD Sgt. Jennifer Swarer.
Sergeant Swarer said a lot of the concern came from how long it took police to clear out the camp.
“The City of Catoosa started about eight or nine months ago when we realized there was one or two living down there. We started the process legally of getting the company that actually owned it on board to post no trespassing. It has taken us this long and it has taken getting citizens on board with understanding where we’re coming from to try to get it cleaned up and removed,” said Sgt. Swarer.
Others say they’re angry police intervention is even needed. And to that, Sergeant Swarer wants to remind the public, these are people who still deserve compassion.
“There’s 100 different reasons as to why people become homeless and it’s not for us too judge. It’s for us to take the compassion and treat each and every person as a human and give them whatever resources we can lead them to,” said Sgt. Swarer.
The last of the debris was cleared out this week and Sergeant Swarer said all displaced people were offered assistance and relocation. Because Catoosa doesn’t have a homeless shelter, several churches in the area stepped up to help as well as family and friends.
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